Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

Refrigerator including a freezing chamber ( 1 ), a refrigerating chamber ( 2 ) at a side of the freezing chamber, a barrier ( 303 ) between the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, the barrier having a freezing chamber cold air passage (A) formed therein, a partition plate ( 7 ) for compartmentalizing a freezing chamber cold air passage in rear of the freezing chamber where an evaporator ( 104 ) is positioned, the evaporator provided in a “ ” form along the freezing chamber cold air passage (A) and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage (B), a partition wall ( 9 ) between the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage, and a fan ( 305 ) mounted over the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air flowing through respective cold air passage ( 10 ) to the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber respectively, thereby improving a cooling rate of the refrigerating chamber and providing more efficient refrigerator.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to refrigerators, and more particularly,to an independent cooling type refrigerator, in which a refrigeratingchamber and a freezing chamber are cooled independently.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, the refrigerator cools down an inside thereof by repeating arefrigerating cycle in which refrigerant is compressed, condensed, andevaporated, for fresh conservation of food stored therein for a timeperiod.

The refrigerator is provided with a compressor, a condenser, anexpansion valve, and an evaporator. The compressor boosts lowtemperature/low pressure gas refrigerant to high temperature/highpressure gas refrigerant. The condenser condenses the refrigerantintroduced thereto from the compressor by using outdoor air. Theexpansion valve has a diameter smaller than a diameter of other part,for dropping a pressure of the refrigerant introduced thereto from thecondenser. The evaporator absorbs heat an inside of the refrigerator asthe refrigerant passed through the expansion valve evaporates in a lowerpressure state.

The structure and operation of a general side by side type refrigeratorwill be described with reference to the attached drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, the refrigerator is provided with a freezingchamber 1 for receiving most of cold air heat exchanged at theevaporator 4 to maintaining an inside temperature thereof at approx.−18° C., and a refrigerating chamber for receiving rest of the cold airheat exchanged at the evaporator 4 for maintaining an inside temperaturethereof at approx. 0˜7° C. The freezing chamber 1 and the refrigeratingchamber 2 is arranged side by side on left and right sides in parallel.

The freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2 are partitionedwith a barrier 3, wherein the barrier 3 has a hole 3 a in an upper partof rear thereof for supplying the cold air heat exchanged at theevaporator 4 to the refrigerating chamber, and a hole 3 b in a lowerpart thereof for supplying cold air circulated through the refrigeratingchamber 2 to be heated to a relatively high temperature to the freezingchamber 1 again. The hole 3 a for supplying the cold air to therefrigerating chamber is provided with a damper (not shown) on an insidethereof for controlling flow of the cold air introduced into therefrigerating chamber 2.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, there are a fan 6 over the evaporator 4for forced circulation of the cold air cooled at the evaporator to thefreezing chamber 1, and a motor for driving the fan. There is a cold airpassage 10 compartmentalized by a partition plate 7 in front of theevaporator 4 for separating the freezing chamber from a space theevaporator 4 is mounted therein.

The partition plate 7 has a two layered plate structure with a frontplate 7 a and a rear plate 7 b, between which the cold air passage 10 isformed.

The front plate 7 a has a plurality of cold air outlets 11 incommunication with the freezing chamber, and there are cold air inlets13 under the partition plate 7 for introduction of the cold aircirculated through the freezing chamber 1 to absorb heat into theevaporator 4 again, and a machinery room 5 in a lower part of rear ofthe freezing chamber 1.

Upon applying power to the refrigerator in a state food is stuffed inthe freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2 of therefrigerator, as the compressor in the machinery room is operated inresponse to a control signal from a controller (not shown), a heatexchange environment of the evaporator 4 is controlled by therefrigerating cycle described before.

Accordingly, the cold air passed through the evaporator 4 is cooled downby means of heat exchange at the evaporator, and discharged to the coldair passage 10 on the freezing chamber side by operation of the fan 6.The discharged cold air is introduced into the freezing chamber 1through the cold air outlets 11, and a portion of which is introducedinto the refrigerating chamber 2 through the holes 3 a. Thereafter, thecold air circulated through the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigeratingchamber 2 to absorb heat is introduced into the evaporator 4 through thecold air inlets 13 again and heat exchanges at the evaporator 4, therebyforming a cold air circulating system.

As has been described, because the related art refrigerator has astructure in which the evaporator 4 is mounted only on the freezingchamber side, and a portion of the cold air having heat exchanged at theevaporator 4 is introduced into the refrigerating chamber 2 through thecold air passage 10 on the freezing chamber side, the related artrefrigerator has the following problems.

First, since the compressor and the fan are required to come intooperation again for temperature control of either the freezing chamber 1or the refrigerating chamber 2, if an inside temperature of any one ofthe freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2 fails to meet apreset temperature, unnecessary consumption of power is caused.

For an example, if the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 2 failsto meet the preset temperature even if the temperature of the freezingchamber 1 meets the preset temperature, it is required to put thecompressor and the fan into operation, to cool down the temperature ofthe refrigerating chamber for meeting the preset temperature of therefrigerating chamber. In this instance, since the cold air is also,supplied to the freezing chamber 1 unnecessarily, of which temperaturecondition is met already, power is consumed unnecessarily.

Second, there has been shortage of cold air passed through theevaporator 4 and supplied to the refrigerating chamber 2 to cause aproblem of relatively lower cooling rate of the refrigerating chamber 2than the cooling rate of the freezing chamber 1.

That is, even if the refrigerating chamber 2 is set to a temperaturehigher than the freezing chamber 1, the cooling rate is poor because ofshortage of the flow.

Third, the thickness of the evaporator 4 mounted in rear of the freezingchamber 1 reduces a volume of the freezing chamber, causing inefficientuse of the space.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator whichcan improve cooling efficiency, and reduce a power consumption, andimproves a cooling rate of the refrigerating chamber.

Other object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator whichcan increase volumes of the chambers of the refrigerator along withaccomplishment of above object.

To achieve the objects of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator including a freezing chamber, a refrigerating chamber at aside of the freezing chamber, a barrier between the freezing chamber andthe refrigerating chamber, the barrier having a freezing chamber coldair passage formed therein, a partition plate for compartmentalizing afreezing chamber cold air passage in rear of the freezing chamber wherean evaporator is positioned, the evaporator provided in a “

” form along the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigeratingchamber cold air passage, a partition wall between the freezing chambercold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage, and afan mounted over the freezing chamber cold air passage and therefrigerating chamber cold air passage for discharging cold air flowingthrough respective cold air passages to the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber, respectively.

The evaporator includes a first part exposed to the freezing chambercold air passage, and a second part exposed to the refrigerating chambercold air passage. The first part is larger than the second part, and thefirst part and the second part are separated by the partition wall forpreventing the cold air flowing through respective parts from mixingwith each other.

The partition plate includes a front plate and a rear plate, to form acold air passage between the plates. The front plate has a plurality ofcold air discharge openings formed therein, the rear plate has anopening in an upper part thereof, the fan is provided adjacent to theopening, and the partition plate has openings in a lower part thereof toform cold air suction openings.

The fan is a cross flow fan, and the cross flow fan has one side exposedto the freezing chamber cold air passage, and the other side exposed tothe refrigerating chamber cold air passage. The first part is separatedfrom the second part by a separation plate.

The refrigerating chamber cold air passage has a cold air dischargeopening above a part adjacent to the cross flow fan. The cold airdischarge opening has a damper provided thereto for opening/closing thecold air discharge opening.

The barrier has cold air suction openings in a lower part of arefrigerating chamber side thereof in communication with therefrigerating chamber cold air passage. The evaporator is an one layeredfin-tube type heat exchanger.

In other aspect of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator including a freezing chamber, a refrigerating chamber at aside of the freezing chamber, a barrier between the freezing chamber andthe refrigerating chamber, the barrier having a freezing chamber coldair passage formed therein, a partition plate for compartmentalizing afreezing chamber cold air passage in rear of the freezing chamber wherean evaporator is positioned, the evaporator provided in a “

” form along the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigeratingchamber cold air passage, a partition wall between the freezing chambercold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage, andfans respectively provided to the freezing chamber cold air passage andthe refrigerating chamber cold air passage for forced circulation ofcold air to the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber,respectively.

The freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigerating chamber coldair passage are in communication with each other at one sides thereof,and a damper is provided in a part of the communication is made.

The fan in the freezing chamber cold air passage is an axial flow fan,and the fan in the refrigerating chamber cold air passage is a crossflow fan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, illustrate embodiment(s) of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciple of the invention. In the drawings;

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a related art refrigerator;

FIG. 2A illustrates a section across a line I-I in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B illustrates a section across a line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a refrigerator in accordancewith a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side sectional view of FIG. 3, schematically;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional view of FIG. 3, schematically;

FIG. 6 illustrates a reference diagram for describing a refrigerator inaccordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention inrelation to a refrigerating cycle;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a refrigerator in accordancewith a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a cross sectional view of FIG. 7, schematically; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a reference diagram for describing a refrigerator inaccordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present inventionin relation to a refrigerating cycle.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings FIGS. 3 to 8. In describing the embodiments of the presentinvention, same parts will be given the same names and referencesymbols, and repetitive description of which will be omitted.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a refrigerator in accordancewith a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4illustrates a side sectional view of FIG. 3 schematically, FIG. 5illustrates a cross sectional view of FIG. 3 schematically, FIG. 6illustrates a reference diagram for describing a refrigerator inaccordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention inrelation to a refrigerating cycle.

The refrigerator of the present invention includes a freezing chamber 1,a refrigerating chamber 2, a barrier 303, a ‘

’ form of evaporator 104, cold air passages A, and B for guiding coldair to the chambers, and a fan 305.

The freezing chamber 1 is provided for frozen storage of food, and therefrigerating chamber 2 is provided at one side of the freezing chamber1. There is the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ in rear of thefreezing chamber 1 compartmentalized with a partition plate 7.

The barrier 303 between the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigeratingchamber 2 separates the chambers, and provides a cold air passage ‘B’for the refrigerating chamber therein.

Since the evaporator 104 of the present invention has the ‘

’ form bent along rear of the freezing chamber 1 and the barrier 303,the evaporator 104 is exposed both to the freezing chamber cold airpassage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’.

There is a partition wall 9 at an angled part of the ‘

’ form bent of the evaporator 104 for dividing the evaporator 104 into afreezing chamber side and a refrigerating side, and the freezing chambercold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’are provided independent from each other by the partition wall 9 forguiding cold air to the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber2, separately. A first part 4 a of the evaporator 104 in rear of thefreezing chamber 1 heat exchanges with the cold air circulating thefreezing chamber 1, and a second part 4 b in the barrier 303 heatexchanges with the cold air circulating the refrigerating chamber 2.

In general, since a heat exchange rate for freezing is greater than aheat exchange rate for refrigerating, a heat exchange area of the firstpart 104 a is greater than the same of the second part 104 b. Adifference of the areas can be calculated from a difference of the heatexchange rates for the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber2.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’guides the cold air passed through the first part 104 a partitioned withthe partition plate 7 and the partition wall 9 to the freezing chamber1, and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’ guides the coldair passed through the second part 104 b partitioned with the partitionplate 7 and the partition wall 9 to the refrigerating chamber 2.

In the meantime, the fan 305 is mounted over the freezing chamber coldair passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’, andis preferably a cross flow fan for blowing the cold air over thefreezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber coldair passage ‘B’. That is, a cross flow fan 305 extended in an axialdirection is mounted such that one side thereof is exposed to thefreezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’, and the other side thereof isexposed to the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’. The crossflow fan 305 has a separation plate 305 a between the freezing chambercold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’,for independent discharge of the cold air to the freezing chamber 1 andthe refrigerating chamber 2.

The cross flow fan 305 is driven connected to a motor 306 with a belt307, has a high flow rate and low noise, and is exposed over thefreezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber coldair passage ‘B’, leading to simplify a system of the refrigerator whilean efficiency of the refrigerator is enhanced. There is a refrigeratingchamber cold air discharge opening 201 with a damper (not shown) foropening/closing the cold air flow. That is, the temperature of therefrigerating chamber 2 reaches to a proper level so as not to requirecooling any more, the damper is closed, to stop unnecessary heatexchange at the second part 104 b of the evaporator.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the partition plate 7 in rear of thefreezing chamber 1 compartmentalizes a space the evaporator 104 ismounted therein. The partition plate 7 includes two layers of a frontplate 7 a and a rear plate 7 b, between which a cold air passage 10 isformed. The partition plate 7 has a plurality of cold air dischargeopenings 101, and cold air suction openings 103 in a lower part forintroduction of the cold air circulated through, and heat exchanged at,the freezing chamber 1 into the evaporator 104 again.

The cold air blown by the cross flow fan 305 from the freezing chambercold air passage ‘A’ is spread uniformly to respective regions of thecold air passage 10 inside of the partition plate 7, and discharged tothe freezing chamber 1 through the cold air discharge openings 101. Thecold air circulates through, and heat exchanges, in the freezing chamber1, and returns to the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ through thecold air suction openings 103 in the lower part of rear of the freezingchamber 1. Thereafter, the cold air is circulated between the evaporator104 and the freezing chamber by the cross flow fan 305, repeatedly.

The evaporator 104 is a fin-tube type heat exchanger. The fin-tube typeheat exchanger has thin plate fins of aluminum or the like closelyattached to an outside circumferential surface of a tube the refrigerantflows therein, for increasing a heat exchange surface. Since thefin-tube type heat exchanger can be bent along the tube, the fin-tubetype heat exchanger is bent in the “

” form.

A heat exchange area of the evaporator 104 is divided by the partitionwall 9.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the partition wall 9, fitted verticallyalong the bent part of the evaporator 104, divides the evaporator 104into the first part 104 a and the second part 104 b, and is connected tothe separation plate 305 a in the cross flow fan 305. Therefore, thecold air respectively passing through the first part 104 a and thesecond part 104 b are separated by the partition wall 9 and thepartition plate 305 a, to heat exchange independently without beingmixed.

The first part of the evaporator 104 is in communication with thefreezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ for supplying the cold air towardthe freezing chamber side 1, and the second part is in communicationwith the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’ for supplying thecold air toward the refrigerating chamber 2. That is, the freezingchamber cold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold airpassage ‘B’ are in communication with respective parts of the evaporator104 divided by the partition wall 9. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5,the evaporator 104 is connected to the compressor 30, the condenser 40,and the expansion valve 50 to form a refrigerating cycle.

The operation of the side by side type refrigerator in accordance withthe first preferred embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the first embodiment refrigerator has thefreezing chamber 1 on a left side of the barrier 303, the refrigeratingchamber 2 on a right side of the barrier 303, and the evaporator 104 ofthe “

” form bent along the rear of the freezing chamber 1 and the barrier303. The partition wall 9 is fitted to the bent part of the evaporator104 between the first part (a freezing chamber side area) 104 a and thesecond part (a refrigerating chamber side area) 104 b. The first part104 a is exposed to the freezing-chamber cold air passage ‘A’, and thesecond part 104 b is exposed to the refrigerating chamber cold airpassage ‘B’.

When the compressor 5 and the cross flow fan 305 come into operation,the cold air from the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ flows to thefreezing chamber uniformly through the plurality of cold air dischargeopenings 11 in the front plate 7 a of the partition plate 7 via the coldair passage 10 in the partition plate 7. After circulating through, andheat exchanging in the freezing chamber, the discharge cold air returnsto the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ through the cold airsuction openings 103 in the lower part of rear of the freezing chamber1, again. Thus, the cold air is circulated between the first part 104 aof the evaporator and the freezing chamber 1 by the cross flow fan 305,repeatedly.

On the other hand, on the refrigerating chamber 2 side, the cold airheat exchanged at the second part 104 b of the evaporator is dischargedto the refrigerating chamber 2 through the cold air discharge openings201 by the cross flow fan 305. The discharged cold air circulatesthrough, and heat exchanges in the refrigerating chamber 2, and returnsto the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’ through the cold airsuction openings 203 in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2.Thus, the cold air circulates between the second part 104 b of theevaporator and the refrigerating chamber 2, repeatedly.

Therefore, in a case the refrigerating chamber 2 is required to becooled down further even though a proper temperature condition of thefreezing chamber 1 is met, the present invention permits to cool downthe refrigerating chamber at a faster cooling rate. That is, bydischarging the cold air heat exchanged at the second part 104 b of theevaporator independently to the refrigerating chamber 2, therefrigerating chamber 2 can be cooled down to a proper temperature, morequickly.

In a case the freezing chamber 1 is required to be cooled down furthereven though the proper temperature condition of the refrigeratingchamber 2 is met, the damper in the discharge opening 201 on therefrigerating chamber 2 side is closed, to prevent unnecessary heatexchange, and to cause a heat exchange concentrated at the first part104 a, thereby improving a cooling performance of the freezing chamber1.

Accordingly, in the separated cooling type refrigerator of the presentinvention, by dividing the heat exchange area of the evaporator 104, andmaking the divided areas to be in communication with independent coldair passages A and B respectively, to cool down the freezing chamber 1and the refrigerating chamber 2 independently, the cooling rate of therefrigerating chamber 2 can be improved, and a volume of the freezingchamber 1 can be increased. That is, by cooling down the freezingchamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2 independently, therefrigerator of the present invention can solve the problem of therelated art refrigerator in which the cooling rate of the refrigeratingchamber is lower than the freezing chamber due to a low flow rate of thecold air passed through the evaporator and supplied to the refrigeratingchamber.

Moreover, since the evaporator 104 of the present invention is spreadover a large area of the rear of the freezing chamber and the barrier303, a thickness of the evaporator can be reduced. Accordingly,different from the related art refrigerator, the volume of the freezingchamber 1 can be increased. That is, while reducing the two layers ofthe evaporator mounted on the freezing chamber side in the related artinto one layer, by mounting the evaporator 104 to occupy a large areaalong the rear of the freezing chamber and the barrier 303, the volumeof the freezing chamber 1 can be increased while the volume of therefrigerating chamber 2 is kept the same.

Furthermore, by separating the cold air passages A, and B from eachother independently that circulate through the freezing chamber 1 andthe refrigerating chamber 2, mixing of smells of the food stored in thefreezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber can be prevented.

Furthermore, since the cold air from the freezing chamber 1 and the coldair from the refrigerating chamber 2 do not meet at an inlet side of theevaporator 104, frost formation caused by a temperature difference isreduced, to permit to increase a defrosting period.

A refrigerator in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG.7 illustrates a perspective view of a refrigerator in accordance with asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 illustratesa cross sectional view of FIG. 7, schematically, and FIG. 9 illustratesa reference diagram for describing a refrigerator in accordance with asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention in relation to arefrigerating cycle.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the refrigerator in accordance with a secondpreferred embodiment of the present invention includes a freezingchamber 1, a refrigerating chamber 2, a barrier 303, a “

” form of evaporator 104, a partition wall 9, freezing chamber andrefrigerating chamber cold air passages A, and B, and fans 105 and 205for blowing the cold air flowing through respective cold air passages.

In the refrigerator in accordance with a second preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, there are all evaporator 104 mounted in a “

” form along a freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and therefrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’, and fans 105 and 205 mountedon the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and the refrigeratingchamber cold air passage ‘B’ independently for forced circulation of thecold air to respective chambers. That is, in the second embodiment, thefans 105, and 205 are mounted on the freezing chamber cold air passage‘A’ and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’ independently,which are controlled, independently.

In the meantime, the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and therefrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’ are in communication at onesides thereof, with a damper 9 a fitted to the part in communication.That is, an opening is formed in one side part of a partition wall 9that divides the freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and therefrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’, and a damper 9 a is fittedto the opening, for selective opening/closing of the opening.

A system of the second embodiment is the same with the system of thefirst embodiment except fitting structures of the fans 105 and 205 andan opening structure.

The fitting structures of the fans 105 and 205 will be described withreference to FIG. 7.

For appropriate utilization of spaces of the cold air passages A, and B,it is preferable that an axial fan 105 provided to the freezing chambercold air passage ‘A’, and a cross flow fan 205 is provided to therefrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’. Since the freezing chambercold air passage ‘A’ has a large area of the partition plate 7, theaxial fan 105 having a large frontal area can be mounted for blowing ofthe cold air. Also, since the refrigerating chamber cold air passage ‘B’is in the barrier 303, to require mounting of the fan into acomparatively small space, the cross flow fan 205 is mounted verticallyin the axial direction for securing an appropriate flow rate. A cold airdischarge opening 201 is formed in a part adjacent to the cross flow fan205 for circulating the cold air to the refrigerating chamber 2.

Even though the cold air passages A, and B are separated by thepartition wall 9, the opening is formed in one side part of thepartition wall 9, and the damper 9 a is provided for selectiveopening/closing of the opening. Therefore, if the opening is opened, topermit the cold air flowing through respective cold passages A, and B tomix, the cooling rates can be balanced in a case the freezing chamber 1and the refrigerating chamber 1 are cooled at the same time. Moreover,in a case either one of the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigeratingchamber 2 is cooled, by closing the damper 9 a, driving the fan for thechamber that requires cooling, and stopping the fan for the chamber ofwhich temperature condition is met, the cooling can be carried out tomeet different conditions, independently.

The operation of the side by side type refrigerator in accordance with asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

It is preferable that the damper 9 a on the opening of the partitionwall 9 is opened in a case the freezing chamber 11 and the refrigeratingchamber 2 are cooled at the same time. Both the axial flow fan 105 onthe freezing chamber cold air passage ‘A’ and the cross flow fan 205 onthe refrigerating chamber cold air-passage ‘B’ blow the cold air. Thecold air heat exchanges at the evaporator 104, and circulates through,and cools down, the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2,respectively.

Thereafter, once the temperature condition of one of the chambers ismet, the damper 9 a to the opening is closed, and the fan for thechamber of which temperature condition is met is stopped. On the otherhand, the fan for the other chamber is kept driven until the temperaturecondition is met.

The refrigerator is operated thus, and others are the same with thefirst embodiment.

Meantime, alike the first embodiment, the separated cooling typerefrigerator in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention has a cold air circulation structure in which thefreezing chamber side and the refrigerating chamber side are independentfrom each other, increases the volume of the freezing chamber 1, and hasan improved cooling rate, to improve a defrosting time period.

However, since the second embodiment refrigerator has two fans,permitting to stop the fan of which temperature condition is met, powerconsumption can be reduced, effectively.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The refrigerator of the present invention has the following advantages.

First, the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber can be cooled,independently. Particularly, according to the second embodiment, becausethe damper can be closed once one of the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber meets the temperature condition at first, topermit concentration of the cold air to the other chamber of whichtemperature condition is not met, a cooling efficiency can be enhanced,and power consumption can be reduced.

Second, since the fan for the refrigerating chamber is provided,permitting forced supply of the cold air to the refrigerating chamber,to increase a flow rate to the refrigerating chamber, the cooling rateof the refrigerating chamber can be improved.

Third, since the cold air from the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber do not meet at the inlet to the evaporator, toreduce frost caused by a temperature difference, the defrosting timeperiod can be prolonged.

Fourth, the “

” formed evaporator mounted to occupy a large area along the rear of thefreezing chamber and the barrier, permitting the evaporator thinner, thevolume of the freezing chamber can be increased while the volume of therefrigerating chamber is kept the same.

Fifth, the separated cold air passages for the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber prevent mixing of food smells stored in thefreezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber.

1. A refrigerator comprising: a freezing chamber; a refrigeratingchamber at a side of the freezing chamber; a barrier between thefreezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, the barrier having afreezing chamber cold air passage formed therein; a partition plate forcompartmentalizing a freezing chamber cold air passage in rear of thefreezing chamber where an evaporator is positioned; the evaporatorprovided in a “

” form along the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigeratingchamber cold air passage; a partition wall between the freezing chambercold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage; and afan mounted over the freezing chamber cold air passage and therefrigerating chamber cold air passage for discharging cold air flowingthrough respective cold air passages to the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber, respectively.
 2. The refrigerator as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the evaporator includes a first part exposed to thefreezing chamber cold air passage, and a second part exposed to therefrigerating chamber cold air passage.
 3. The refrigerator as claimedin claim 2, wherein the first part is larger than the second part. 4.The refrigerator as claimed in claim 2, wherein an outer surface of thefirst part and the second part is separated by the partition wall forpreventing the cold air flowing through respective parts from mixingwith each other.
 5. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein thepartition plate includes a front plate and a rear plate, to form a coldair passage between the plates.
 6. The refrigerator as claimed in claim5, wherein the front plate has a plurality of cold air dischargeopenings formed therein.
 7. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 5,wherein the rear plate has an opening in an upper part thereof, and thefan is provided adjacent to the opening.
 8. The refrigerator as claimedin claim 5, wherein the partition plate has openings in a lower partthereof to form cold air suction openings.
 9. The refrigerator asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the fan is a cross flow fan.
 10. Therefrigerator as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cross flow fan has oneside exposed to the freezing chamber cold air passage, and the otherside exposed to the refrigerating chamber cold air passage.
 11. Therefrigerator as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first part is separatedfrom the second part by a separation plate.
 12. The refrigerator asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the refrigerating chamber cold air passagehas a cold air discharge opening above a part adjacent to the cross flowfan.
 13. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cold airdischarge opening has a damper provided thereto for opening/closing thecold air discharge opening.
 14. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1,wherein the barrier has cold air suction openings in a lower part of arefrigerating chamber side thereof in communication with therefrigerating chamber cold air passage.
 15. The refrigerator as claimedin claim 1, wherein the evaporator is an one layered fin-tube type heatexchanger.
 16. A refrigerator comprising: a freezing chamber; arefrigerating chamber at a side of the freezing chamber; a barrierbetween the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, the barrierhaving a freezing chamber cold air passage formed therein; a partitionplate for compartmentalizing a freezing chamber cold air passage in rearof the freezing chamber where an evaporator is positioned; theevaporator provided in a “

” form along the freezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigeratingchamber cold air passage; a partition wall between the freezing chambercold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold air passage; andfans respectively provided to the freezing chamber cold air passage andthe refrigerating chamber cold air passage for forced circulation ofcold air to the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber,respectively.
 17. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 16, wherein thefreezing chamber cold air passage and the refrigerating chamber cold airpassage are in communication with each other at one sides thereof, and adamper is provided in a part of the communication is made.
 18. Therefrigerator as claimed in claim 16, wherein the evaporator includes afirst part exposed to the freezing chamber cold air passage, and asecond part exposed to the refrigerating chamber cold air passage. 19.The refrigerator as claimed in claim 18, wherein the first part islarger than the second part.
 20. The refrigerator as claimed in claim18, wherein the first part and the second part are separated by thepartition wall for preventing the cold air flowing through respectiveparts from nixing with each other.
 21. The refrigerator as claimed inclaim 16, wherein the partition plate includes a front plate and a rearplate, to form a cold air passage between the plates.
 22. Therefrigerator as claimed in claim 21, wherein the front plate has aplurality of cold air discharge openings formed therein.
 23. Therefrigerator as claimed in claim 21, wherein the rear plate has anopening in an upper part thereof, and the fan is provided adjacent tothe opening.
 24. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 21, wherein thepartition plate has openings in a lower part thereof to form cold airsuction openings.
 25. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe fan in the freezing chamber cold air passage is an axial flow fan,and the fan in the refrigerating chamber cold air passage is a crossflow fan.
 26. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 25, wherein therefrigerating chamber cold air passage has a cold air discharge openingin a part adjacent to the cross flow fan.
 27. The refrigerator asclaimed in claim 26, wherein the cold air discharge opening has a damperprovided thereto for opening/closing the cold air discharge opening. 28.The refrigerator as claimed in claim 16, wherein the barrier has coldair suction openings in a lower part of a refrigerating chamber sidethereof in communication with the refrigerating chamber cold airpassage.
 29. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 16, wherein theevaporator is an one layered fin-tube type heat exchanger.